


Parallels

by KaeStela



Category: Starbound (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-10-31 17:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaeStela/pseuds/KaeStela
Summary: A collection of side-stories connected to the events and characters of As Long as We Remember (starts around chapter 42)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This scene takes place shortly after [Chapter 42](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10597404/chapters/24223023) of As Long as We Remember.

Tarvei looked up as someone climbed down the ladder. “Oh, hey there, Geo. I thought you were with that old human from the winterpost?”

Geo cuffed him, not hard enough to actually hurt. “Everything over thirty is old to you, youngster,” he grumbled, but the corner of his mouth twitched like it always did when he was hiding a smile. “Arjun found a new job now. He signed on with a Protectorate captain.” The older Apex sighed. “I envy him. His dreams, at least, just came true. I see your little devilbird is elsewhere today?”

“Yeah, Mog does as she pleases. Chin up, you gloomer,” Tarvei said, grinning. “We’ll make it! I’ve seen the Commander in action. She’s something else. But what’s this about the Protectorate? I thought the whole Earth-getting-exploded thing wiped them out?” He couldn’t repress a shiver. He’d been having nightmares about it for a while now, nightmares so real that it felt like he’d been there, even though he’d never gotten close to the Sol system.

“That’s what we all thought, Vei, but there’s still at least one left.” Geo sat down on a crate. There was a stiffness to his movements that told Vei he was hurting. “At least, she calls herself one, and she carried one of their odd matter-changing devices. No, do not bother with the med-kit. I’ve been seen to.”

“Sounds good enough for me,” Vei agreed, sitting down beside his friend. “Go on, what was she like?”

“Damned fine woman,” Geo said, chuckling. “An Apex with dark grey fur and the longest mane I have ever seen on a warrior. Didn’t seem to bother her much. You should have seen her in action, Vei. I’ve never seen anyone but the Commander take charge like that. She was right up there in the thick of it too, back to back with a human soldier, hewing down anything that tried to get past.” He flicked his hand left, right, miming the scene. “She moves like a dancer with that spear of hers.”

Vei laughed. “I wish I’d seen it.”

“I wish I could describe it. I am not doing it justice. Her crew was pretty impressive too,” Geo continued. “Two Novakid, a Floran, and that human girl who fought like one of the bandits.”

“Novakid! Really? _Two_ of them?”

“I saw them with my own eyes,” Geo said. “Got patched up by one of them.” He patted his shoulder, then shook his head. “We almost lost that one. A bandit shot him with a charge rifle, right in the brand.”

Vei winced. He knew enough about the elusive Novakid to remember what damaging their brands could do. “How is that almost?”

“His captain is a quick thinker,” Geo explained. “Possibly crazy, too,” he added with another laugh. “She dragged him into the snow so the cold could leech out the energy before he exploded. Burned her pretty bad, but she did not seem to mind that part.”

The younger Apex whistled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re fond of her,” he teased, elbowing his friend.

Geo chuckled again, shaking his head. “Don’t start, youngster. I’m perfectly happy with Mera. Besides, I know my limits. A woman like Captain Saimiri is well out of my reach.”

Tarvei stiffened. Geo felt the movement and looked over at him thoughtfully. “She looked a lot like you, Vei,” he said slowly. “The same shape to your faces, the same skin color, the same nose. Even your accents. If her eyes were not so dark, I would think you were—”

“I’m going to stop you before you say _related_ ,” Vei said, his voice clipped and warning. “Because if we are, then you’ve just let my mother into a Resistance camp, and she’s a loyalist. You do _not_ want her knowing where we are.”

“No, the captain might be greying, but I do not think she is old enough to be your mother,” Geo said. “I was thinking sister. What _is_ your surname, Vei?”

Vei stood up. “It’s none of your business.” He didn’t like the hard, studying stare Geo directed at him. He bit his lip, trying so hard to bury the old sorrow, the echoed grief he’d learned from his parents’ faces, the tears buried too deep in pride and pain to shed. He hadn’t thought about it in… he didn’t want to think about how long it had been. “I haven’t…” He swallowed, his voice softening. “I haven’t got a sister, Geo, not anymore. The Miniknog killed her.”

Geo bowed his head. “I am sorry, Vei. I should not have pushed.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Vei lied, patting Geo’s shoulder and forcing a smile. “You didn’t know. Besides, it was years ago, and I never knew her. Come on, let’s go find Mog. I’ve got a new trick I want to practice.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene takes place around [Chapter 48](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10597404/chapters/24412251) of As Long as We Remember.

_< Miniknog officer recognized—detaining rogue officer.>_

Aram stared at the words scrawled across the screen before him, memorizing them before the censor could erase them like it had consumed everything else about _her_ for the past six years. 

Seeing her name again dredged up all the memories he’d tried to bury with her: the grim, silent child he’d taken under his wing, the years he’d spent coaxing and dragging out her potential, the proud young woman who’d returned home from her first assignment and left him wondering how she had surpassed all he’d seen in her, and the deep, hollowing grief he’d felt when she vanished and he knew, deep down, that _disappeared_ was just another word for _dead_.

But he had _seen_ her name on his screen just now, her name reported in a place she should never have gone, a place that tied her to treason and the destruction of everything he’d worked for in his long life. 

He leaned his elbows on the desk and buried his face in his hands so that the microphone behind the clock wouldn’t pick up that shuddering, treacherous, joyful breath.

_Alive._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place sometime between [Chapter 49](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10597404/chapters/24427191) and 50 in As Long as We Remember.

“Vei! The Commander wants to see you!”

Tarvei jumped, almost dropping the radio he was repairing, which made Mog wake up with a startled squawk. “What? Lana Blake? She’s _here?_ When? The raid succeeded? Why me?”

Geo waved his questions away. “She can answer all of that herself. Come on!”

Mog snorted. “More chaos and ruckus. Don’t suppose I’m needed this time, mates?” she asked.

“Only if you want to come,” Geo told her.

“Nope. Not if you don’t need me to shoot things. I haven’t had a good nap in days.” Mog closed her eyes and nestled back into Tarvei’s spare jacket, muttering something rude about raids and prohibitions.

Absolutely bewildered, Tarvei put the radio down and followed Geo out of the bunker, pausing only to snag an old, slightly threadbare Apex scientist doll off the table and hide it in his pocket. The little toy had been his good luck charm for years now. Something told him he’d need that luck today.

The entire camp was a hive of activity, Apex running back and forth, shouting news and orders, some laughing, some crying, everyone excited. Vei could hear the whispers: “ _Is it over? Did we win? We won?”_

Lana Blake was talking quietly to the camp’s leader, a rather grizzled older woman that Vei had come to think of as almost an aunt (after getting over being vaguely terrified of her). The Commander looked up as they approached and nodded to Geo. Then her eyes passed over Vei and he saw her face freeze, just for an instant, before she greeted him as well. “You are Tarvei? Aly spoke highly of your skills.”

Vei blushed, the tips of his ears burning scarlet. _A compliment from the Commander herself!_ “Yes, ma’am,” he said, grateful that he didn’t stutter. “I, uh, don’t know what skills you mean. I do odd jobs, mostly, run goods and stick posters up.”

Aly smirked. “And you picked the lock on the meeting room again. Don’t try to deny it. You’re the only one here who can do that.”

The young Apex grinned sheepishly. “It was just for practice, ma’am.”

“Think you can pull it off in the Miniknog Stronghold?” Lana Blake asked.

Vei straightened up, trying hard not to glow with pride. “Yes ma’am!”

“Good. You’re with me, then. Geo,” she said, turning to the older Apex behind Vei, “before we leave, I want to hear your full report on Captain Saimiri. Aly said you led her here before the raid began.”

Geo looked startled. “Yes, of course. May I know why?”

“She is a former Miniknog Agent.” Lana Blake ignored the startled exclamations around her and kept her eyes locked on Geo’s bewildered, slightly horrified expression. “She joined the raid four days ago. She’s the reason we won, and she just gave us the last key we need to tear the Miniknog down. I need to know _exactly_ who she is.”

 _Saimiri again?_ Tarvei wondered as he listened to Geo repeat his story to Blake. _Former Miniknog… But that… No._ He shook his head, hand moving to the doll in his pocket. He knew better.

**

Tarvei kept close to the Commander as she led him through the main gates of the former Miniknog Stronghold. She’d already briefed him on what he was supposed to do. It was simple enough: just unlock any doors they couldn’t open electronically. He could see other members of the Resistance around, some clearing up the chaos, some carrying what looked like Miniknog equipment. Vei spotted someone with a rather strange painting of a blonde Apex woman standing on a seashell.

“Watch your step,” Blake warned, picking her way past twisted sheets of metal. “The mines are deactivated, but the shrapnel will shear right through your boots.”

Vei nodded, stepping nervously around the rubble. “I heard rumors you had gone somewhere else,” he said after a few minutes. “Something about another fight you needed to see through.”

“You heard right,” Blake confirmed as she shoved the main doors of the manor open. Vei could have sworn he caught a faint scent of bananas from the wood as he followed her inside. “I will be back to our cause as soon as possible, but from what I’ve learned, this one is too big to ignore.”

“Oh.” Vei wanted to ask what she meant, but he also didn’t want to push his luck. _If it’s important, maybe she’ll tell me later._

The first lock he had to get through was an ominous black door, jarringly out of place against the rich mahogany of the lower floors. He’d never seen a door with a forcefield inside it before, but after one false start and a bit of a shock that made his fur fluff up, he disabled the energy wall and got the door open. The room inside was eerily dark, lit only by static from two massive, cracked screens. The stench of old blood and burned plastic lingered in the air. Vei pulled his scarf up to cover his mouth and nose and hurried through.

Lana Blake waited as he wrenched the scarf down and sucked in a lungful of fresh air on the other side. “My apologies. I forget that not everyone is used to that sort of thing,” she admitted. “You took it better than I expected.”

“What… what happened in there?” Vei asked, breathless and more than a little shaken.

“Captain Saimiri killed Big Ape.” Blake headed for the lift.

“She… what?!” Vei scrambled to keep up. “Big Ape’s really dead?”

“As much as you can kill an AI,” Blake confirmed. “I wasn’t there for it, too busy getting sewn up after breaching the gates. I found her afterward.”

Something about the word _found_ worried him. “Did she… survive?”

“Yes.” Blake pulled a memory card out of her pocket, along with a note, as she led Vei into a strangely empty part of the lab. “She sent this to me yesterday. Here.” She shoved a bookcase out of the way, revealing an old wooden door. “This is what I needed you to open.”

This door was much older than any Vei had worked on before, the lock stiff with rust and dust. It took him several minutes of cursing, coaxing, and carefully working grease into the mechanisms before he managed to get it open.

“Impressive,” Blake said, and Tarvei looked up to see a rare approving smile on her face. “Seven people have tried to open that door since we took this place. You’re the first one to succeed.”

“I, um, thanks,” Vei said, grinning. “So what’s back here?”

Blake checked the door for traps before sliding it open. She stared in silence for several long seconds. “It looks like a library,” she said, her tone the closest Vei had ever heard her come to shock.

-

“I don’t believe it,” Lana Blake muttered as she inspected the shelves. “Old formulas for VEP, experiment records… Is this _history_?” She pulled a particularly ancient book off the shelf and blew the dust off its cover. The Commander was so focused on her find that when Tarvei cleared his throat to get her attention she jumped, hand dropping to the knife at her hip before she recognized him.

“Whoa, sorry, sorry!” the younger Apex said, backing up a step. “Er. Commander, I think you should see this.”

Tarvei led her over to a low shelf, half-hidden at the back of the room, and pulled out a book. He shone his flashlight on the title. _Project Big Ape._ “All these books are about him,” he whispered. It felt wrong to raise his voice here. “I skimmed a few of them. He wasn’t just an AI, ma’am. He was an Apex once.”

Blake took the book from his hands and flipped through it. Vei caught the words _upload, maintenance, reprogram_ , before she handed it back, her expression going blank, like a steel door sliding shut. “Put that back,” she commanded. “We’re leaving. Lock the door behind you. I don’t want anyone tampering with these before I get a chance to read all of them.”

Tarvei followed her down to the teleporter, feeling an anxious itch settle in. She was trying to hide it, but he could read the tension in her body. Something in that room, in that book, had rattled her. It had rattled the unshakable _Lana Blake._ He bit his lip, screwed up his courage, and asked, “What does this mean, ma’am?”

Blake took a deep breath. “For the past? It changes nothing.”

“…For the future?”

“I don’t know.”

Vei had never heard her sound so uncertain.


	4. Chapter 4

“You’re not as nervous as I thought you’d be,” Aly murmured, her voice muffled by her mask and hood.

“I do this every time I go to work,” Tarvei replied, grinning under his scarf. “These people, at least, won’t drag me away and mutate me if I say the wrong thing.”

“True,” Aly said, and he could hear a hint of laughter in her voice as she listened to one of the others cheerfully but unsuccessfully sweet talk his comrade. “Arkadis might threaten to stick a knife in you, but that’s the worst of it.”

“Arkadis?” Tarvei knew that name. He’d seen it on wanted posters near his hometown. He surveyed the poorly-lit room, curious. Aly stood at his left, in front of him, but he could just make out three more people, all cloaked, hooded, and slightly travel-worn.

Aly started to reply, but the person on their right spoke first. “They’re late.”

Tarvei knew that voice. _Mera? Geo’s wife is one of Blake’s inner circle?_

“We still have a few minutes,” the unsuccessful sweet-talker replied, lowering his hood to reveal a wild mane of auburn hair and a patch over his left eye socket. His face was only slightly touched by age and his voice was bright and pleasant. “Ah, that’s better… those hoods are stuffy. Personally, I don’t mind if our head honcho runs behind. It gives me more time to work on this stiff.”

“Keep _working_ and I will take your other eye,” the rebel beside him warned, a hint of a snarl in his voice.

The other fellow laughed. “Have it your way.” He walked over to Vei and Aly, giving Aly a charming smile. “At least this lovely lady appreciates my affections. …Ah, have you brought your young lover? I am eternally foiled,” he said. His tone would have been almost tragic if it weren’t for the wide grin on his face.

Aly echoed his laugh. “No, Tarvei is much too young for me. Vei, this is Rodim. He’s incorrigible. Rodim, this is my protégé. Blake took him with her to the Stronghold the other day.”

Rodim’s remaining eye widened and he froze for just a moment, almost too fast for Vei to catch it. “She is tying him in, then? Welcome, boy!” He offered Vei a handshake, his grin erasing the odd tension.

“It’s a pleasure, sir,” Vei said, accepting the handshake.

“And he has manners! Tell me, my boy,” Rodim said, rubbing his hands together in a parody of a mad scientist, “what do you contribute to our fine cause?”

Tarvei shrugged. “I do odd jobs. Stick up posters, run goods… ouch,” he said as Aly jabbed his ribs with a bony elbow.

“Stop selling yourself short, Vei.” She turned to Rodim, just a hint of pride creeping into her voice as she said, “Tarvei is one of the best spies we have. He has been feeding them counter-intelligence and tracking their supply lines for years.”

Tarvei hid his embarrassed pleasure behind a polite smile as he felt the attention of every person in the room focus on him.

“Supply lines?” the man Rodim had been hitting on walked over, curiosity glinting in his half-shadowed blue eyes. “Did you operate in Gamma Koric?”

“Three years ago?” Vei asked. “Yeah, that was my first ‘real’ job, Hylotl settlement on the third planet…. It wasn’t much.”

“Not bad,” the other Apex said, the barest hint of a smile reaching his eyes without ever touching his mouth. He held out a hand. “I am Arkadis.”

“Call me Vei. I’ve heard of you,” Tarvei replied, accepting the handshake. Arkadis’s hand was more slender than Rodim’s, but strong and scarred. _Wonder if the other one’s really made of metal, like the rumors say…_

“Not bad?” Mera repeated, shooting an incredulous look at Arkadis. “Didn’t you tell me the last-minute intel on that raid saved your life?”

“Yes. Not bad.” Arkadis stepped back with the slightest of bows, tucking his hand back under his cloak.

Aly looked around, counting heads. “Just the four of us, then? Where is Vaska?”

The door slid open. “She is running interference,” Lana Blake said, striding in. There was a book tucked under one arm, looking rather out of place against her standard rifle, grenades, and crimson scarf.

Mera shook her head. “Vaska and her raids,” she said, sounding amused. “She is as bad as you are, Blake. At least you’re here now. You had information for us?”

“Yes.” Blake walked over to the table in the middle of the room and set the book on it. “It is good that you brought Tarvei, Aly. He and I discovered something vital to—”

“Do not say _our_ mission,” Rodim said, the sudden hostility in his voice startling Tarvei. He’d seen the older male’s stance shift when Blake walked in, but he hadn’t anticipated the anger so quickly. “You abandoned us.”

Blake turned her calm stare on Rodim; the faint tension in her shoulders told Vei all he needed to know as the mood frosted. “Abandoned,” she repeated after several long seconds of cold silence. “No accusations without proof, Rodim. Explain.”

“Do I need to?” Rodim asked. “Where have you _been_? Hiding out with some humans on an old rock they colonized?”

“I fail to see the problem,” Blake retorted, folding her arms.

“We have all hidden in worse places,” Aly said, trying to soothe tempers before things got messy.

Rodim snorted. “Worse places, but better company. Have you gotten around to telling everyone here who led you there, who you’ve been collaborating with? No? It’s a Miniknog agent.” He paused, eyes fixed on Blake’s unreadable expression. “You are right. I should not say abandoned. I should say betrayed. Give us a good reason not to remove you from command right now, Lana. I say you are unfit to lead us.”

“Rodim, think about what you are saying,” Aly warned, almost pleaded, over Mera’s gasp, Arkadis’s soft curse, and Blake’s silent, steeled glare.

“I know what I am doing, Aly. And for all I know, you are working with Lana now,” Rodim said, glancing at her. “The agent came through your camp. Captain Saimiri, ring a bell?”

Vei stiffened. _Her again._

Mera snarled. “Saimiri? She was _Miniknog?_ That… How dare—” She broke off, too enraged to speak.

The mood was getting ugly fast. Tarvei looked around at the other rebels. Aly was still calm, but Arkadis’s jaw had tightened and Rodim’s broad hands were balled into fists.

Mera was shaking with the effort to control herself. “If I’d known who she was, she would never have left that camp alive,” she growled.

“Then it is good that you couldn’t tell,” Blake said, a bitter kind of amusement in her voice.

“ _Good?_ ” Arkadis asked. “Rodim is right, Commander? Have you—You of all people—Commander Blake, you betrayed us?” Tarvei saw his hands tighten into fists, hate and hurt etched in his narrowed eyes and bared teeth.

“Arkadis!” Blake snapped, and he flinched. “All of you. You know me better than that,” she said, letting her disappointment sink in for a moment before continuing. “I say it is good that Mera did not identify her then, because Captain Saimiri is the woman who killed Big Ape.”

Dead silence.

“You are free to doubt. Do not presume.” Blake locked her eyes on Rodim. He held her gaze for a moment before looking away. “Captain Saimiri was Miniknog. But without her, we would have lost at the Stronghold. I would be dead. Could any of you have held what was left of us together after that?” She paused again, letting that thought sink in. “We can discuss Captain Saimiri later. For now, I am keeping an eye on her.  If she turns on us, I’ll deal with her myself. I might not have founded our Resistance, but I will damn well defend it. Acceptable?”

There was an edge in Blake’s voice that Vei had only heard her use on the battlefield. _This is a different sort of battle_ , he realized. Mera still looked angry and Rodim uncertain, but they joined Aly and Arkadis in voicing their agreement.

“But why are you at this outpost?” Aly asked after a moment or two. “I cannot imagine how that might benefit our cause, having you so far from our camps. Your presence has always aided morale.”

“It is… not for our cause,” Blake said slowly. She hesitated, the first sign of uncertainty Tarvei had seen from her since she entered the room, as she searched for how to answer. “It’s for something… greater. I am helping the Terrene Protectorate take down the monster that destroyed their homeworld, before it strikes again.”

There was another silence, but not an angry one. It felt like grief. “We lost friends that day,” Mera said at last, speaking for everyone. “I lost… I saw the videos. That thing, it _can_ be stopped?”

“That is what I intend to find out,” Blake replied. “I will need your eyes and ears. The Occasus. You are familiar with them already.”

Arkadis’s visible hand curled into a fist. “Familiar?” he spat. “They raid us almost daily. They are getting bolder, Commander. My lieutenant almost lost an eye in their last attack.”

“They serve that monstrosity.” Blake studied her inner circle, her closest allies. Aly had paled at the implication. Rodim swore quietly but viciously. Mera’s nails dug into her palm, deep enough to pierce her tough skin. Tarvei stared at Blake, horrified that anyone would even _think_ of obeying something that destroyed whole _planets_. Arkadis alone seemed unsurprised, nodding quietly as if the commander had just confirmed his suspicions.

“Do not engage, except in self-defense. We cannot afford that. Watch their movements and report back to me. Can I ask this of you?” Blake asked. One by one, they nodded or voiced their agreement.

Rodim was last. “The Terrene Protectorate will owe us one for this,” he said, his smile from earlier starting to reappear. “You’re not off the hook yet though, Lana. You still have not told us what you called a meeting for.”

Blake’s shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly as a hint of amusement softened her expression before she turned and picked up the book she’d brought in. “Tarvei.”

Vei almost jumped. “Yes, ma’am.”

Blake turned the book so its title was clearly visible. _Project Big Ape, vol. 4._ “I want you to tell everyone exactly what you saw when you helped me find this.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene takes place shortly before chapter 59 in As Long as We Remember. The Avikan are a reptilian mod race from the Elithian Races Mod (included here as a favor to a long-time reader from the tumblr version).

Khayar as-Tevira was not having a good day. Admittedly, the sun was bright and the breeze was sweet, and the dew along the leaves overhead was pleasantly cool and thirst-quenching, but she was still bruised, still stuck in the human camp, and the damned creature had come to _gloat_ again.

“Look at it drinking water off the leaves. Just like an animal,” the human laughed. Khayar didn’t remember enough xenobiology at the moment to know if humans came in was male, female, or neither, and frankly she didn’t care. She glared at them silently before finishing her drink.

The human walked over, crouching just out of her reach. “Your crew isn’t good at listening, lizard,” they said. “They still haven’t stopped defending that ridiculous keep. Do you know what we’re going to do to you, lizard?”

Khayar slowly and deliberately licked the last stray drops from her face, showing off her forked tongue and thin, sharp teeth. “Enlighten me, human,” she said, imitating their crude language flawlessly. _Know your enemy,_ as she had been taught, and these robed cultists were undoubtedly enemy.

The human twitched back, though she couldn’t read their expression under the thick purple hood. “It speak, then. Good. Your people might reconsider if they hear you pleading for mercy before we make an example of you.”

Khayar considered this. “It is an interesting plan, human,” she agreed. “I am a valuable hostage. But there is a small flaw.”

The human snorted. “Don’t tell me something stupid like ‘you can’t break me.’ We’ve heard that one before. We always find a way.”

“I was not going to say that.” There was a quiet snap, the sound of the last strand of rope being cut. Khayar flipped back onto her hands, catching the human in the chest with both taloned feet. She stood up as they hit the dirt and flicked the last strands of twine away from her wrists.

“You got too close,” she said, showing all of her sharp, sharp teeth.

-

“Curious. Where have you been, Lady Khayar?” the ornate Glitch lord asked her when she joined him on the walls an hour later, rubbing salve into the cracked scales at her wrists.

“Having a chat with the enemy,” she said, pocketing the salve box again and surveying the field in front of the keep. “Have I missed anything interesting?”

“Bored. No, they simply keep charging the gates. Your lieutenant Medyiki said something about them trying to sabotage the walls, but we put a quick stop to that.” He looked over the field again. His eyes lit up as he glanced skyward. “Alert. Here they come again.”

“Never a dull moment,” Khayar muttered with a grim grin as she strung her bow. She really wished she had her line rifle right about now, but the Glitch were still repairing that. “Looks like I came back just in time.”

The Glitch lord glanced at her. “Thougthful. You do not have to help us, you know. You put yourself at risk in a fight that’s not yours.”

Khayar sighted along the arrow, lining up the shot as the first of the human flying contraptions came within range. “Don’t be silly. It became my fight the moment they captured me last night. Besides, you sheltered us.” She let the arrow fly. “The Avikan pay their debts.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Tarvei, as your oldest friend and the one Mog and Aly will both flay alive if you die out there, I must ask,” Geo said. “Do you realize how stupid this is?”

Tarvei barely looked up from stashing spare knives in his various hidden pockets. After a moment of thought, he grabbed the old staff from behind his bedroll too. Never knew when healing would come in handy. “Believe me, I have every idea how stupid I’m being,” he muttered.

“I don’t think you do,” Geo said, stepping to block his way out of the bunker. “You are planning to leave Apex space. The Miniknog might give you leeway as a trade negotiator, but you have already pushed it this past month. And now outright leaving with no warning, just on a curiosity? Vei! Think about it!”

“I have thought!” Tarvei snapped. “I’ve taken care of that already. Let me go, Geo!”

“No.” Geo folded his arms. “Whatever reason you have come up with, it’s not good enough. Just sit quiet and wait for her to come back.”

Vei snarled, then let out a long breath, burying his anger. “It’s not about Commander Blake, Geo. It’s… about the captain you met. Commander Blake is my only lead to find her. I… need to know.”

Geo stared at him, concern and bewilderment replacing the stubborn resolve. “Need to know what, Tarvei?”

Tarvei looked down. “I… Please, Geo. I need answers. Trust me.”

The older Apex studied Tarvei for a moment, then nodded. He said nothing as he stepped aside.

“Thank you,” Tarvei whispered, stepping past him. “I… thanks.” He couldn’t look up.

“Vei.”

The younger rebel stopped, one foot off the ground and one hand gripping the ladder rungs, and looked back. Geo held out the threadbare old scientist doll, Tarvei’s lucky charm. “You will want this. And you will need this,” he said, thumping his empty fist against his chest. “Give me five minutes. I’m coming with you.”

Vei smiled, swallowing the sudden stiffness in his throat as he took the doll from his friend’s hand. “Don’t take too long, old man. Mog’s already waiting for me, and we don’t want to miss the show.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene occurs immediately after Chapter 77 in As Long as We Remember.

Geo looked up as he heard feet coming down the ladder. “Who’s there?” he called. The children were helping their cousin forage, and Mera wasn’t due back for another day or two at least…

“Just me.”

The older Apex relaxed at the sound of Tarvei’s voice. “Ah, I was wondering where you had gone, Vei. Aly said you had business to deal with?” He stopped as he caught sight of the boy. “Are you alright?”

Vei’s smile was shakier than Geo had ever seen it. “I guess… You were right, Geo.”

Worry creased Geo’s features. He stood up, walking over to the door as Tarvei stepped inside. “Right about what?” He gently put one hand on Tarvei’s back and guided him toward the seats. The boy looked as fragile as spun glass. Geo found himself uncomfortably reminded of a fledgling fallen from its nest.

“About Captain Saimiri. I went to see her crew,” Tarvei explained. He sat down on the old crate-turned-chair, his head bowed forward so that Geo couldn’t see his expression. “She… she’s dead, Geo.”

“What?” Geo’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Dead. No. He had seen her fight. She’d survived a _dragon_! “…how? Did the Miniknog—”

“No… She was fighting that _thing_ that destroyed the Earth. She didn’t come back.” Tarvei looked up. Tears darkened his amber eyes; he’d bitten his lip until it bled, trying not to cry. “But you were right.” His voice broke. “She was my sister.”

“Your… sister? You said that—”

“I was wrong. And… it wasn’t entirely true.” Tarvei pulled his old charm out of his pocket, smoothing the doll’s fur. “I never really knew her. She was Selected before I was born, and these past six years… we all thought she had been killed in action, serving the Miniknog. My parents were… proud, in a way, while I—” He shook his head and set the doll down.

“I suspected, when you said her name,” he said, much softer. “But I’d believed for so long… When I saw her at the Keep—”

He broke completely then, burying his head in his arms. Geo crouched beside him, putting a comforting arm over his trembling shoulders as the boy started to cry. Vei sat up a little at his touch and pulled Geo into a hug, pressing his damp face against the older man’s shoulder.

Several minutes passed, Vei quietly sobbing and Geo holding him, occasionally murmuring soothingly and patting the boy’s back. Eventually, Tarvei let go and sat back, managing a tiny smile. “Thanks, Geo… Sorry about that.”

“I am always here if you need me,” Geo said, passing Vei a somewhat clean rag to dry his face. “There’s no shame in crying, not for this.”

They sat there in silence for a little longer as Tarvei wiped the tears off. Eventually, Geo asked, “Did the commander tell you? About what happened?” He had seen her with Aly, and had known Lana Blake long enough to read her moods. It had been a long time since he had last seen this one.

Tarvei shook his head. “I talked to her crew. I don’t… I don’t think Commander Blake _could_ have told me about… about Nyota. She…”

Geo nodded. He understood. It explained a little of what he’d seen, and made his heart ache for his long-time friend, under the pain he already felt for the boy he’d come to see as his son.

“I don’t understand why it hurts so much,” Tarvei murmured, twisting the rag between his fingers. “I barely knew her. I wish—I wish I had realized sooner. But… I’m glad she found people who loved her.”


End file.
